How Wang Zhi Yi Finally Figured Out An Se Young

0:00
You're also asked to say to a player
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that she's the very common 10
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consecutive times
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as a coach. Say, nobody beats Wang Zhi
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Yi 11 times.
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Yes, that's right.
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Prior to the 2026 All England,
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Wang Zhi Yi had lost to An Se Young 10
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times in a row.
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And in fact, it's been a whole year of
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losing to An Se Young for Wang Zhi Yi.
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At the finals of the 2026 All England,
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however,
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Wang Zhi Yi would break her losing
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streak and finally win against An Se
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Young.
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Indeed, no one beats Wang Zhi Yi 11
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times in a row. A little bit of a
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different look from
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An Se Young.
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And An Se Young's not been looking for
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it.
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It seems
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Today, we want to take a look at why
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Wang Zhi Yi struggled against An Se
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Young so much before. And what kind of
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changes she made to finally pick up a
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win. Let's start with why she struggled
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so much before.
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To understand why Wang Zhi Yi struggled
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against An Se Young so much,
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we first need to understand An Se
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Young's strengths.
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We did multiple videos on An Se Young
1:13
before that dove into various tactical
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and technical strengths that explained
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how one of An Se Young's greatest
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strengths are her front court pushes.
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The shots come at speeds and angles that
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make it difficult for any women's
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singles player to deal with.
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But against Wang Zhi Yi in particular,
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they are extra effective.
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This is because Wang Zhi Yi can be
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generalized as a player who aims to
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change pace at the net
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and tries to create opportunities to get
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points herself
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rather than through tiring or punishing
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her opponent's mistakes.
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And so, what this looks like on court is
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that Wang Zhi Yi focuses on the
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follow-up where she increases the speed
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towards the front court so she can take
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the shuttle early.
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The goal is to put pressure on your
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opponents and use shots like deceptions
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to break your opponent's rhythm and
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ultimately get kill opportunities.
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This is by no means a bad play style
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and we have in fact preached it
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ourselves multiple times in the past.
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Players such as Lee Chong Wei,
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Anthony Ginting,
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and most comparably Tai Tzu-ying
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are great examples of how this style can
2:27
win you games.
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But against someone who is extremely
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stable and has good shot quality, AKA An
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Se-young, playing this way can be
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dangerous.
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Everything you do has an opportunity
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cost.
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To change speed
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and take the shot early at the net,
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you ultimately have to give up some of
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your back court.
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And that's not necessarily something you
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want to do
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against a player who has some of the
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best pushes on the circuit.
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When Wang Zhi Yi previously played An
2:58
Se-young,
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she frequently got caught in her late
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back court
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and often ended up hitting half court
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clears or loose drops that An Se-young
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could easily kill.
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She was just often watching the net way
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too closely
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and then forgetting about the back
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court.
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And when you get into a situation where
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you constantly have to change the
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momentum of your movements,
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you get tired more easily.
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Playing for the front court meant that
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if Wang Zhi Yi's opponent relifted or
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pushed, she would have to stop her
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forward momentum and move backward
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again.
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So even though you might see that An
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Se-young is losing in some of these
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rallies,
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Wang Zhi Yi is ultimately the one
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expending more effort and that plays out
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in later games and matches where the
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build-up of fatigue causes more
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mistakes.
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At the 2026 All England, Wang Zhi Yi
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adjusted her play style slightly against
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An Se-young.
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Instead of playing so much for control
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over the net,
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Wang Zhi Yi stayed at the back
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just slightly longer so she doesn't get
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caught as often.
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This worked wonders for her.
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What you'll notice at the 2026 All
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England compared to previous matches is
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that Wang Zhi Yi is much more stable in
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her late back court.
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There were fewer moments where Wang Zhi
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Yi was caught scrambling back and forth
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and her late back court was now more
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difficult to read as she was in position
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more often.
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Of course, the trade-off is losing the
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front court.
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In this match, Wang Zhi Yi does not take
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the net as early as she did in past
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games
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and typically opted to lift or push
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high.
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This trade-off, however,
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was definitely worth it
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considering An Se Young's strengths
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and the slower playing conditions at the
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All England.
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An Se Young is not a player who has a
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particularly deadly back court attack.
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She's one to control you around from the
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front and ultimately punish loose shots.
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And so,
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you don't actually want to play towards
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the front court too much against An Se
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Young.
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Instead,
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Wang Zhi Yi focused on shot quality
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and moving An Se Young around the court.
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Playing like this tired An Se Young out
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and led her to make more mistakes.
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So, even though Wang Zhi Yi did not
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always win the rally,
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as long as An Se Young expended more
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effort,
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it would ultimately lead Wang Zhi Yi to
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win.
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>> Missed it again, huh?
6:06
What was also very important was Wang
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Zhiyi's preparedness for An Se Young's
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flat game.
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In previous matches, Wang Zhiyi would
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often get caught off guard by An Se
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Young's quick flat exchanges. Your
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instinct when you're not ready is to
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just reactively hit the bird, and that
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led to many points won for An Se Young
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in past matches.
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At the 2026 All England, however,
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Wang Zhiyi paid more careful attention
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to sharpening her readiness
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and could often end up turning these
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flat exchanges in her favor.
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2018, you remember that.
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If you guys watched our video about how
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Chen Long is reshaping the Chinese
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junior players,
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you'll know that one of the main points
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highlighted
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was how a focus on being ready and using
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your opponent's shot speed against them
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can be a very effective way to win.
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It seems these kind of lessons are
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shared throughout the Chinese national
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team as this is the main thing Wang
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Zhiyi's coach tells her.
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Some of the main things to highlight are
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how the coach tells Wang Zhiyi to be
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mindful of what her opponent can do and
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find a doubles-like rhythm for these
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flat exchanges.
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And Wang Zhiyi executes this well.
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In one of the early rallies in the
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second game,
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An Se Young initiates the drive battle
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and Wang Zhiyi flips the attack against
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her to win the rally.
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It happens throughout the match where
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Wang Zhiyi Yi the flow of the game in
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her favor, noticeably better compared to
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previous matches.
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It will be interesting to see if players
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like Wang Zhi Yi can repeatedly use some
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of these concepts and strategies to win
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against An Se Young.
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Give up the front court a little bit, so
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you can keep control in the back.
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Focus on shot quality
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and readiness
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to counter An Se Young's attack
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instead of trying to create openings
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yourself.
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Was this a one-time adjustment or is it
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a repeatable strategy that can be used
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against An Se Young?
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Let us know what you think in the
8:39
comments below.
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If you like the video, make sure to hit
8:43
like and subscribe, so you don't miss
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out on future content. And as always,
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thanks for watching.

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How Wang Zhi Yi Finally Figured Out An Se Young

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